MediaPlayer: Still images from video streams

In BeOS 5, MediaPlayer gets a new, but easily overlooked feature — the ability to save “clippings” just like ShowImage, StyledEdit, SoundRecorder, and other apps. Saving stills from video streams is now easier under BeOS than any other operating system.

While a video is playing or paused, just drag from the MediaPlayer window to the Desktop. That video frame will be saved as a targa image on the Desktop. Hold down left Ctrl while dragging and you’ll get a context menu asking which output format to use — you can save in any image format for which you have an installed Translator.

This is especially great if your video camera has a “Still Photo” option but you don’t have BeOS software that supports extracting those stills.